Dueling Dovetails

One of the unsung heroes of our Woodworking in America conference is Mike Siemsen. Mike is an accomplished woodworker and teacher from Minnesota, and his enthusiasm is unmatched. He runs the Hand Tool Olympics portion of the show, and in previous years we’ve seen some interesting head-to-head match ups. Despite the serious looks, it’s all in fun. Mike is part craftsman/part carnival barker and it’s hard to walk by without getting involved, as in this contest from the 2009 event in Valley Forge, when Peter Follansbee accepted Mike’s challenge.

This year, Frank Klausz happened by and agreed to go head-to-head with the Minnesota Madman. Frank has authored several articles for Popular Woodworking Magazine, and he has likely cut more dovetails than anyone alive. He was was featured in this video clip taken by Senior Editor Glen Huey.

I missed the live performance, but cameras were rolling, and Mike shared the event on his blog. Check out Mike’s blog, the classes at his school and the video below.

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5 thoughts on “Dueling Dovetails”

This is an incredible demonstration. However, the background music leaves me a bit confused because now when I hear The Overture to William Tell, I think of Frank Klausz cutting dovetails and Clockwork Orange.